Event Horizon: Storm Of Magic - Prologue
by Spartan-168-Django
Summary: 2154: a mega-corporation makes the discovery of the ages when they find three perfectly habitable planets in the Epsilon Eridani System, just waiting to be explored and colonized. What the team will find when they arrive there, however, is bound to shock and surprise them to no end. Let the adventure begin! This is only the introduction to a series continued in Book I.
1. Chapter 1: Arrival

_**Foreword:** Hello all! What you see before you is the **Prologue** for **Event Horizon: Storm Of Magic**, my entire series of stories set in the same universe: one where Middle Earth, Westeros, and Warhammer Fantasy are all set on planets within the same star system … and one day, all three worlds are forever changed when into this star system arrives a space explorers and colonizers from a 22__nd__ century Earth. So brace yourselves, and read on!_

_**Acknowledgements: **__I would like to thank everyone at AlternateHistory dot com, the original home of this story, for their inspiration, feedback, and input of ideas that have helped make this story what it is today__. I strongly encourage everyone here at to check out the "Alien Space Bats" board over at AlternateHistory, including this story's original post (which includes pictures and maps as well!)._

_**Disclaimer 1**: this is a noncommercial fan work meant as a light-hearted parody and transformative work of the original source material, and thus falling within the perimeters of current United States Fair Use Doctrine. Any other new characters or places are my own creation._

**_Disclaimer 2:_ **_in order for this story to work, it is helpful to assume that none of the original works upon which these fictional worlds are based exists on Earth in this alternate timeline._

* * *

**United Nations Space Vessel **_**U.N.S.V. Belo Horizonte **_**("Beautiful Horizon") ISXCT-138  
Epsilon Eridani System  
10.5 lightyears from Sol**

**October 1, 2154 C.E.**

"Attention all personnel!" came the monotone voice of the ship's resident A.I. 'Skippy', thundering throughout the decks and cavernous halls of the _Belo Horizonte_.

"Attention all personnel!" it boomed again, just in case the first one hadn't been enough to shake up the crew from their slumber. "We are beginning our final stage of deceleration to Epsilon Eridani Target Vector 886374. ETA: 33 hours and 17 minutes. You have been in suspended animation for exactly 179 days, 8 hours, and 12 minutes. Some of you may be experiencing dizziness, lethargy, disorientation, headaches, cramping, loss of motor skills, nausea, loss of control of lower abdominal bodily functions, and so on. Do not panic – these symptoms are normal for extended periods of hyper-sleep, and are only temporary. Medical staff and proper facilities will be provided to you shortly. If symptoms persist 24 hours from now, please report to the infirmary level immediately. Otherwise, all personnel report to your stations in t-minus 30 minutes. Welcome to Epsilon Eridani."

_Shit_, thought Jonathan Teller, Colonial Director and Chief Representative of The Company's interests on this mission, as he struggled out of his cryo-pod and reached for a nearby disposable sickness bag. Even with the latest Hyperion-class Tachyon Shunt Trans-Light Drive, the voyage between Earth and Epsilon Eridani still took over six months – with the crew put into suspended animation for much of it. Now, cryo-sleep itself was pretty okay – it was the wakeup at the end that always sucked. For this reason, The Company always had its crew awakened from cryo at least a day prior to arrival. That way, the crew had time to recover from "The TiLTS" (**T**rans-**L**ight **T**ravel **S**ickness), as they called it.

As Teller finished wretching up the last of the bile that had been sitting frozen in his stomach for the last six months, he heard the message alert on his holoscreen ringing.

"What is it?" he snapped, answering the call, "can't you see I'm busy?"

"Sir!" came the voice of Angela Cheong, Teller's personal secretary, as her face appeared on the holoscreen. She didn't look much better than he did coming out of cryo, but the look on her face was enough to tell him it was important. "We're receiving a transmission from Earth", she continued. "Highest priority."

_Well ... shit_, he thought. _If the board is trying to reach me before UN mission control does, then it must have been something damn important_. "Patch them through", Teller commanded. He took a drink from his rehydration pack, and then quickly tried to compose himself as best he could in the minute or so it took to establish a working connection.

Being virtually mass-less, electromagnetic waves were far, far easier to transmit over the light-speed barrier than solid objects like the _Belo Horizonte_ – with the result that communications could be transmitted almost instantaneously over distances that would have taken years for even the fastest ships in the star fleet to traverse. While the crew had been in cryo en route to Epsilon Eridani, mission control back on Earth had continued to monitor their progress, as well as the live feed from the remote deep space probes sent well ahead of the ship.

"We're getting some strong EM interference from one of the worlds", remarked Angela, "but otherwise we're 97% clear."

"97's good enough. You sure no one's listening in?"

"Signal is through The Company's encrypted channels", she reassured him. "Trust me, the only ones listening in right now are you and I."

Teller's personal holoscreen flashed up with The Company's golden spiral galaxy logo, followed by a view of a well-lit and well-polished corporate boardroom back on Earth. And seated at the head of the table was a familiar face whom Teller had learned to loathe with a passion for the last few years that he had been with The Company.

"Good morning, Director Jonathan P. Teller", came the stern, cold voice of Mr. D. E. Belleville, Executive Director of The Company's space exploration and colonization branch. "We trust you slept well?"

"Good morning … sir. Been better." _Now that was putting it mildly_.

"We'll need you on your feet for what you're about to hear", said Belleville, brushing away the formalities to cut to the chase. "Anything we discuss in the next few minutes is strictly confidential, highest level. There's been an unexpected development in our plans. While you and your crew were in cryo, the drones reported back to us with … well, you'll see it for yourself".

Teller's personal holoscreen flashed to a 3D interactive map of the Epsilon Eridani System, complete with the _Belo Horizonte_'s current location highlighted, created with the latest real-time feeds from the forward recon probes. The screen immediately zoomed in on the area in question, the fabled "Goldilocks Zone", the area around the star where temperatures were just right ("not too hot, but not too cold either") for sustaining life.

Yep, they were there all right. Three habitable worlds – two roughly "Earth-sized" worlds, and one "super Earth", though all three exhibited gravitic and atmospheric conditions almost identical to Earth's. And at the far side of the star lay a fourth planet, also within the Goldilocks Zone, that might also support life too. The scientists had been at a total loss to explain it – a "one-in-a-trillion-_cubed_ chance" of such a thing, they had said. And yet here they were, as clear as day – three brilliant blue orbs, floating in the vastness of space, no more than a mere 80 million km away from one another, and all ripe for the taking.

The Company had been damn lucky to have earned the exclusive rights to them. The United Nations Administration of Space Exploration and Colonization (UNASEC), who were funding half of this mission, would of course manage scientific endeavors, claim these worlds as "mandates" under their protection, collect taxes from any trade within the system, and all that jazz. But The Company, who were funding the other half, would hold the sole colonization, mineral extraction, and trading rights within the system, at least for the next three decades. As long as they remembered to pay their taxes, let the UN eggheads do their thing (and maybe bribe a UN inspector every now and then to mind his own business), The Company could do as they bloody well pleased for the next 30 years. And if they did well enough until then, the UN might even consider extending that license.

The holoscreen zoomed in onto one of the planets, displaying a table with some basic data about it – diameter, gravity, atmospheric pressure, average temperatures, day lengths, and what not. Apart from the one planet that gave off those bizarre EM readings around its poles, they otherwise all looked pretty normal. Now, what was it The Company needed to discuss so badly, and in private? Could it not have waited 'til the main briefing?

Teller was about to find out. The screen zoomed in onto the planet, through the atmosphere, down to what to a human observer would have seemed like just a couple klicks or so above the ground – even a seasoned "business traveler" like Teller never ceased to be impressed with the spectacular image quality offered up by the latest magnifying lens models made by The Company's optics division. The image on the holoscreen seemed normal enough at first – a forest, some mountains in the background … The Company had discovered and colonized similar worlds before in the neighboring systems, so the vista presented before Teller's eyes didn't impress him too much at first.

And then he saw it. From a distance, he'd mistaken it for another rocky outcropping. But as the viewfinder drew closer, he realized just what it was he was looking at. A series of circular towers rising out of the ground, a great wall between them – a castle, like something out of a damn fantasy novel. And judging from the colorful banners fluttering in the breeze, and the wisps of white smoke rising from the chimney, it clearly wasn't a millennia-old ruin, either. _It was inhabited_.

"Shit!" remarked Teller. "Does this mean the UN's gonna yank our colonization rights again? Like they almost did back on Alpha Centauri? Now what was that all about, 'Xeno rights' or something?"

"Mr. Teller", Belleville cut him off, "I'm afraid you're looking at just the tip of the iceberg". With that, he sent the viewfinder right down to just above street level.

Perhaps it was still the side effects of waking up from cryo-sleep that were getting to him. But Teller nearly threw up again from the shock of what he was seeing.

As the viewfinder zoomed in onto the castle's courtyard, Teller saw that it was populated by none other than … than … walking, talking _human beings_! Goddamn _Homo sapiens_! _People_! _People everywhere_! There were Humans standing guard on the walls, clad in armor and swords like something out of a fairy tale. There were humans toiling away out in the fields. There were Humans milling about inside, peddling wares, haggling over prices. There were Humans riding horses or practicing archery, and all clad in costume that wouldn't have looked out-of-place at a damn Renaissance faire.

Teller was left speechless. _What the hell was going on?! Was this a bloody dream? Was he still in cryo? Was this the cryo-drugs acting up again? How was this even possible?! Convergent evolution? Aliens abducting people from Earth in the distant past? Or had Humans come to Earth from here?_ Too many possibilities flooded into Teller's mind!

Whatever it was, he knew that his job had just taken a nosedive from the cliffs of sanity, down into the murky depths of the bizarre. "Who..." he stammered, "... who else knows about this?"

"Well, thanks to the information socialists over at the UN, _everyone_."

"Well … fuck! That complicates things."

"We figured as much", replied Mr. Belleville. "Can you imagine the shitstorm the media caused here on Earth? We're now getting all kinds of activists and pressure groups demanding that the UN _revoke our exclusive rights to the system!_ They keep moaning about 'non-interference in native affairs', and how we should leave these Medieval savages to carry on wallowing in their own filth in peace. Oh, and apparently, 'it's morally wrong for us to monopolize and control all contact with our fellow Human beings'. Give me a break! Fucking tree huggers – I wouldn't be surprised if half of these so-called 'social justice warriors' are on our corporate rivals' paycheck."

Teller couldn't think of something to say to remedy the situation, so his boss continued uninterrupted: "Anyway, the UN will be contacting your ship in exactly 23 minutes to break the news to the crew, but I needed to reach you first because I don't want anyone doing or saying anything stupid and compromising the mission. Whatever happens, whatever they say, you are following _The Company's_ directives, not the UN's! Understood? If they ask, just humor them, and reassure them that you've got everything under control and that you've got a plan on how to address these natives. _Which you do_, by the way, am I correct?"

"What? Uh … I mean, yes, sir! Absolutely!"

"Good. Because what happens next is critical, got that? Thanks to all the media buzz, the UN is now preparing a second mission to follow up with you guys, complete with anthropologists and, get this, a _documentary film crew_. If they don't like what they see when they get there, they're probably going to pull the plug on our little venture – and not to mention auction _our_ rights off to Nova Corp or Atlas or Yutani, or, worse, close the whole place off to everyone! Good news, though, is we have time. The _U.N.S.V. Joseph Conrad_ departs Earth in three months. That gives you about 283 days before they arrive to get us well established in the system. Do what you need to do. I gave you the best, _so use them, God dammit_! But be careful who you trust, and keep an eye on the troops – I don't want to hear of anyone 'going native' or anything." He sighed. "This system is a one-in-a-quintillion God-given opportunity for The Company. Do. Not. Fuck. It. Up! And if you're not up to task, I'll make sure to find someone who is. Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes, sir!" said Teller.

"Good!" replied Belleville. "I'm wiring to you an information packet with all we know so far, plus specific objectives we need to achieve and a timeline for the next 90 days before the _Conrad_ takes off. Focus on doing your job right, and I'll take care of the PR back on Earth. Just don't throw me any curveballs and we'll do fine. And who knows, we pull this off, I might even put in a good word for you with The CEO when you get back. Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Are you an effective team?"

"One-hundred-_and-one_ percent, sir!"

"Good. Now go clean yourself up before the UN calls – honestly speaking, you look like shit right now. Over and out". With that, the much-maligned face of Mr. D. E. Belleville thankfully disappeared, replaced once again with The Company logo. Teller still needed a couple minutes though to pull himself together.

"Angela?" he called out at last, "Call Django, Fred, Saito, and anyone else with a Level 5 clearance to my office, right now. I ... I need to speak to them before the briefing."

"I'll get on it right away", she replied over the intercom. "Mission briefing is in 18 minutes in the comm room, by the way. Is there anything else I can do?"

"Uh … yes. If it's not too much to ask for, I need a freakin' drink right now. Anything, as long as it's at least 10% alc/vol. Preferably more. Thanks."

With that, Teller sat back down and just stared ahead. _God_, he thought, _just what have we gotten ourselves into this time?_

* * *

**Somewhere else entirely … another dimension? Another universe? Who knows?**

For millennia beyond count, the entity had presided over its world, bound to it, staring only with envy at the other worlds that lay just beyond, tantalizingly just out of its reach.

Until now. As it lay there, continuing to scheme and plot and toy away with the lives of billions of mere mortals, as it had done so for most of its eternal life, it had suddenly become vaguely aware of something moving through the Warp. Something feint and distant, but something new. Something that was not just there, but also getting closer and closer with each passing minute – slowly but surely, sailing across the vast dark aether like a little silver ship upon a black tide of infinite _chaos_.

The entity stretched out a feeler across the delicate boundary that separated its universe from ours. It could only pick up tiny traces of whatever forces were emanating from this vessel – but so far, it had decided that it really liked whatever it was seeing and hearing and feeling.

It was a living creature all right, and like all living creatures, it too could express desire, greed, ambition, lust, anger, pride, fear, hope … the kinds of weak mortal emotions that this entity and others like it nourished themselves on, and manipulated for their own vile and ruinous purposes. Ah, the list of possibilities was as endless as the black void from whence it came!

Whether friend or foe, this … _vessel_ was about to shake the very core of this world and many others like it, in ways that even the entity, for all of its might and power and influence over the vicissitudes of fate, could not possibly predict.

For better or for worse, _change_ – glorious, wonderful, and, above all, completely chaotic and unpredictable _change_ – had come to its universe. The entity sat back and relished the thought of just how … _interesting_ things were about to get - for this world, for its neighbors, and beyond...


	2. Appendix 1: News Article 1

**+++INTERGALACTIC HERALD TRIBUNE+++**

**September 09, 2154 C.E.**

**EXTRATERRESTRIAL HUMAN RACE FOUND**  
_**"Native" Homo sapiens discovered in Epsilon Eridani; declared "Discovery Of The Ages"**_

Associated Press – Today, the United Nations Administration for Space Exploration and Colonization (UNASEC) revealed at a press conference that at least one of the four recently discovered habitable worlds in the Epsilon Eridani system is inhabited by an intelligent species that bears a startling similarity in appearance and behavior to Earth's own _Homo sapiens_. It is not known if the other three planets in the system also possess Human life. However, it is not a possibility to be entirely ruled out just yet, either.

This is the fifth time in the last century that humankind has encountered a sapient humanoid life form. However, in all of the previous four documented cases, the species in question bore only superficial similarities to _Homo sapiens_, such as a basic body shape, and are otherwise completely biologically distinct from us down to the genetic level.

Scientists have not yet confirmed if this newly discovered species is exactly 100% genetically and biologically congruent to the Human race – in order to do so, a hard DNA sample will need to be obtained.

Nevertheless, they have concluded, based on remote satellite observations, that the species in question do at least bear a 99% outward visual similarity to _Homo sapiens_. The 1% deviation in physical appearance may be accounted for by differing environmental and societal conditions in which these Humans inhabit. Based on observations of their habitation dwellings and daily activities, it appears that these "extraterrestrial humans" or "exohumans" currently live at a level of social and political organization and technological progress roughly equivalent to our own Medieval Ages.

The scientific community has suspected for years now that the four roughly Earth-sized orbital bodies located in the "Goldilocks Zone" of Epsilon Eridani have the potential to sustain life. These planets were first located and identified back in 2106 by acclaimed astronomer George Takahashi of the Mars Institute of Technology (MIT). A decade ago, international headlines were made when long-distance radio-spectral analysis from UNASEC's Saturn-Titan-1 station confirmed that at least three of the planets in question do indeed contain traces of oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water within their atmospheres, though the physical existence of organic life could not be confirmed until two years later.

However, due to high levels of as-yet unexplained electromagnetic interference in the area, it was impossible to conduct further long-distance analyses. No further data could be made available until the first UNASEC automated exploration drone arrived in the system earlier this year.

With all the necessary preconditions for life there, it should have come as no surprise then that intelligent life would exist. But what makes this discovery so shocking to the scientific community is the fact that the planet's inhabitants would resemble our species so closely, and may perhaps even be related at the genetic level. Scientists are now scrambling to explain what should be, in their words, a "statistical impossibility".

One possible explanation, according to Dr. Randall Styles of the Lunar University, is "convergent evolution", or the idea that species evolving in complete isolation to each other could nonetheless develop similar characteristics if faced with a similar environment. "This case, while remarkable, would not be without precedent", Dr. Styles told the media, "we already have numerous documented cases of 'convergent evolution'. Take, for example, the native blue-skinned Alpha Centaurians, who somehow conveniently evolved into a four-limbed upright tetrapod form almost identical to _Homo sapiens_, in an environment where everything else, including their biological ancestors, had no less than six limbs! Normally, you would expect such a thing to happen only in a big-budget Holomovie, but hey, I guess fact is stranger than fiction, right?"

Another theory, and one that is rapidly gaining popular support, is the existence of "an intelligent creator" in the distant past – a being, or a group of beings, a deity, a member of an advanced alien race, or possibly even a Human of an ancient advanced civilization. While outlandish, this latter theory seems to be the one favored by a large number of "New Age" spiritual groups, internet-based Sci-Fi geeks and alternate history buffs, as well as a surprising number of high-ranking members of the scientific community.

All of these theories, however, are currently pure speculation, and until further evidence is found, we simply cannot know for sure. In addition to the origins of these "extraterrestrial humans", further mysteries abound in the Epsilon Eridani system, such as the exact source of the abnormal EM interference detected in the system, as well as the possible existence of other planets in the system.

Either way, the announcement of this discovery caused a media stir across the Solar news media. UN Secretary General Miguel Luiz Santos Da Silva was quick to label the discovery as the "possibly the greatest and most unexpected in history, a true Discovery Of The Ages", and applauded the efforts of both UNASEC, and of The Company™, who helped co-fund this discovery.

The news was greeted with similar acclaim by world leaders from across the globe, and throughout the colonies.

U.S. President Marianne Young-Taft called it "the Defining Moment Of The Millennium … right up there with all the other 'Defining Moments Of The Millennium' that I had mentioned in my previous State Of The Union addresses".

German Chancellor Paul Klinsmann declared that this discovery is: "far more significant to our understanding of the universe than the invention of the trans-light drive".

Premier Kim Suk Hwang, supreme leader of the Martian remnant of the former Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK, formerly known as "North Korea"), said: "we actually created this planet. Yes, it's true. This great project was begun in secret many decades ago by my beloved late father and Glorious Eternal President of the Korean People. And we demand that the capitalist pig-dogs that are The Company™ and their UN lackeys leave our planet alone!"

Other world leaders, while enthusiastic about the discovery, stressed the need to show caution when dealing with the unknown. Her Holiness Pope Aurelia II of the Holy See said: "I have always taught that God does indeed move in mysterious ways. For better or worse, the declaration today that Human life exists beyond our good Earth will shake the foundations of Man's belief structures, and force many of us to re-examine the teachings of God, and of our Lord Jesus Christ in a whole new light".

In addition, His Holiness the 18th Dalai Lama said: "It is indeed enlightening news to know that we share this universe with other noble and sentient Human beings. However, I would caution Humanity to exercise humility, prudence, and respect in light of this discovery. For who knows what possibilities, what beauty and magnificence, but also what dangers and temptations lie beyond?"

A scientific mission, funded half by the UN and half by The Company™, is currently en route to the system aboard the _UNSV Belo Horizonte_, and is expected to arrive within the month. Their objectives will be, among other things, to study the native populations and their worlds, as well as to establish friendly relations that will one day allow us to visit our relatives in the Epsilon Eridani System. In light of the announcement, UNASEC has now confirmed that they will send a second mission to follow up with the first one.

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**Like this story? Other stories that may interest you:**

**_"Great Discovery Of Epsilon Eridani" Prompts 100+ Point Rise In Stock Value Across Space Colonization Sector_** \- Sept. 09, 2154.

**_Controversy Over Natives Of Epsilon Eridani: Activists Demand Revocation Of Company™'s Exclusive Rights To EE System_** \- Sept. 10, 2154.

* * *

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	3. Chapter 2: Briefing

**U.N.S.V.**_** Belo Horizonte**_** ISXCT-138****  
Epsilon Eridani System  
10.5 Lightyears from Earth  
ETA: 29 hours****  
**  
The briefing with the UN brass back on Earth had gone about as well as it could have, given the circumstances. James "Django" Lombardi had to admit though that he still found the news hard to swallow. _Damn human beings? On another planet? Had the universe lost its mind?_

Still, the shockwaves this discovery would have on the very core of Humankind's understanding of life, the universe, and everything … were still _tiny_ next to the enormous inconvenience this had just caused for The Company. Here it had looked like they had struck gold by earning the exclusive colonization rights to three virgin M-class worlds. Now, the very success of their mission was at stake.

At least, though, it was good that Teller had warned the others of the situation prior to the briefing with the UN. In situations like this, you never could quite predict how your staff would behave. Even professionals could break down and panic over such an unexpected (and positively _shocking_) spanner having just been thrown into the works. Django had to give Teller credit where it was due.

At the current moment, James and another couple dozen or so of the top Company managers and representatives on this mission were now gathered in Teller's office. It was rather cramped, owing to the tight restrictions on space onboard-ship, but they still offered better privacy than the ship's main conference center. These quarters had been designated as strictly Company access only – no UN folks or anyone else allowed here. Even Skippy, the ship's resident A.I., had had his sensors temporarily deactivated.

"Alright folks, listen up!" began Teller, addressing all those present. Django snapped to attention. "Thanks for coming in on such short notice," he continued, "but before I begin, I want to be clear that everything I'm about to say is Level Five clearance. At least half of this info hasn't even been released to the public yet. So whatever I say stays within these walls until such time that I deem appropriate. Understood?" Django and his co-workers all responded affirmatively.

"Good", Teller continued, "now, first of all, good job folks. I know it's hard to keep a straight face after just coming out of cryo, but for what its worth, you guys did okay. If the brass ever suspected that we weren't up to the task, they didn't show it … which is good enough for me". Everyone nodded in agreement.

"So without further adieu, let's cut to the chase", he continued. "We've been both blessed and cursed with what frankly speaking shouldn't even be scientifically possible. Three Earthlike worlds ripe for the taking – the real estate value alone could pay back our initial investment a thousand times over. And that's before you add in the receipts from tourism, mining, as well as any potentially valuable scientific discoveries waiting for us.

"All of that is, of course, provided that the UN inspectors don't shut us down when they arrive in nine-month's time. You all remember the incidents back on Alpha Centauri, do you?"

_God, Centauri_, thought James, n_ow that was a real shit show_. Judging from the scowls he could make out, at least half the crowd seemed to agree with him.

"As far as Earth knows", said Teller, "we have this all under control. So let's at least act the part and focus on the details now". Teller's secretary Angela Cheong fiddled with the console, pulling up a real time map of the star system on the holoprojector. "Right, what we have here are three M-class worlds within a single star system – a one-in-a-trillion-cubed occurrence, even before we factor in the fact that they're, you know, all _inhabited by freakin' Humans_.

"I'd like to start off with the largest of these worlds, a 'Super Earth', which serves as the 'anchor', while the other worlds orbit at its Lagrangian points." The holoprojector immediately zoomed in on the planet in question, pulling up a table of basic stats. "That's why we designated this one 'Episilon Eridani L0', or 'EE-L0' (or you can just call it 'L0' or '_El Zero_' if you prefer). However, it is also the world from where we've been tracing most of the background radiation anomalies in-system."

"Is this something we should be concerned about?" cut Daniel Zimmerman, Fred's assistant, "like, is it hazardous to life?"

"Not really", came Teller's reply, "we ran IR scanners and found the planet to be pretty well populated, even at the Polar Regions, where these anomalies are concentrated.

"We estimated the population of the world as a whole to be somewhere around 500 million, though radio-spectral analyses of the atmosphere suggested it probably closer to a billion inhabitants, based on CO2 and other chemicals. Of course, it is possible that most of the planet's unaccounted residents live underground, or in the thick equatorial jungles where local ambient temperatures reach those of a Human body, which mucks up the ability of long-range IR to distinguish between living creatures and their surrounding habitat.

"The world also possesses two moons, which we have designated EE-L0-M1 and M2, and as you can imagine, that must lead to interesting tidal patterns. Otherwise, apart from its size, and the polar anomalies, it's a pretty decently Earthlike world. Hell, even the layout of the continents bear a similarity to Earth! Gravity-wise, it's more or less the same as Earth, which would only be possible if the core and mantle were lighter than Earth's. Yet the abundance of various ferrous, heavy, and rare-Earth metal compounds in the crust suggests otherwise. Some of the eggheads have a … rather _convenient_ theory on all of this."

"Hang on a minute", said C.K. Chen from Accounting. "Are you implying that this world is, uh, _created_?"

"Well", laughed Teller, "if it was, that'd certainly explain a lot of things. Check _this_ out."

The Holoprojector began displaying a number of still images and HD long-range videos shot as the probe had done its round of the planet. It hadn't had enough time to catch much, but one image in particular caught everyone, even Django, by surprise when Teller paused on it. Just as things couldn't get any weirder, they had.

Sarah Jane Carson from the Office Of Legal Counsel (_yes, The Company brought lawyers too on a space mission_) was the first to break the silence with her Southern drawl. "Are those … _Elves_?"

"From what we are led to believe, they could just be an evolutionary off-shoot of the Human race, though we cannot know for sure until we acquire a specimen – living or dead. For now, we are treating them as a sub-species of _Homo epsilon eridaniensis_. Most of their populations seem concentrated on these two landmasses". Teller highlighted the areas in question on the holomap.

"Unfortunately, we weren't able to catch much footage of them beyond these few images, but based on their architectural styles and aesthetics, we are to believe they may be using a far more advanced, err, _power_ than the other Humans of their world. For all of these reasons, I suggest that they should be one of our first points-of-contact on this world."

"Wait, what do you mean by _advanced power_?" cut in Batoo Raj Pradhan from Engineering. Django could see he was straining to say the next line. "Are you saying they use … _magic_?"

"That would appear to be the case", said Teller, rather nonchalantly. "I know some of you may find this a little hard to stomach, but bear with me. From what little we've seen of them, their level of technology, precision, infrastructure, and aesthetic perfectionism seems just far too high for a pre-industrial society. And yet our scanners didn't pick up any signs of atmospheric pollution normally associated with widespread fossil fuel consumption. This leads us to two conclusions: either they skipped the whole Industrial Revolution and went straight to fusion power – unlikely, given that technological progress of such magnitude never occurs in isolation – or perhaps it's because something else entirely allows them to achieve these without reliance on technology. I'm inclined towards the latter. It would also help explain the polar anomalies."

"Well I'll be darned!" began Carson, clearly baffled, "so not only are we dealin' with exo-humans, but _darn magic and elves_ too? What is this, a Lord Dunsany novel?"

"I was a little befuddled myself at first" replied Teller, "but to be honest, I'm kinda okay with it. For starters, it actually helps explain many of this star system's …_quirks_. And besides, if it really is 'magic', then guess who would responsible for discovering and patenting it? Us, of course."

"I don't like where this is going", said Chen, "too many unknown variables. Is this something we should be meddling in?"

"Well, all great ideas and inventions had to start somewhere, didn't they?" shrugged Teller, "but that's beside the point. EE-L0 is the largest, the richest, and the most … _peculiar _of the three. Yes, so many great business opportunities await us, and yet, so many hidden dangers as well. This is why we're holding off on sending a shore party for the next few weeks, at least until we get a better gauge on things. Django?" He turned to face James. "You and Saito will lead two separate expeditions to EE-L0 in a month's time. Until then, everyone, we're focusing our efforts on L4 and L5. Which brings us to our next point. Angela, would you like to take it from here?"

"On it, Mr. Teller," said Angela as she refocused the holoprojector on the next planet in the system. She began: "What we have here is Planet Epsilon Eridani Lagrange 4, or 'EE-L4'. It is approximately the same size as Earth, though based on the satellite data, its climate cycles seem somewhat … erratic. Its landmasses are concentrated primarily in these five continents. We ran the IR scanners here too, with estimates of the human population between 100 to 200 million people across the entire planet. The most densely populated region seems to be the coastline along this _narrow sea_ channel between the two largest continents.

"However, it is suggested that the best place to land would actually be here, about a few hundred miles to the north. It's fairly rich in terms of minerals and metals. It's a little more sparsely populated than the rest of the continent, but there are still sufficient population centers nearby. So, we will be able to set up our outpost in relative peace, while still having enough of the locals nearby to trade and gather information from. Anything north of this … small mountain range is inadvisable – it appears that the continent extends all the way up as far as the planet's North Pole. Like L0, there also seems to be some kind of anomaly in the polar region, "magic" you could say, though it appears to be far weaker and concentrated just at the North Pole. L4's South Pole looks clean."

"Thank you Angela", said Teller. "Fred? You'll be leading the shore party here. You and your staff will be departing in Valkyrie 02 at 0800 Hours tomorrow, so have your team and all of your supplies ready by tonight … or whatever passes for night on a spaceship anyway …"

"No probs, sir", smiled Frederick Kovacs, "yo, Daniel! Did you get that down?"

"This brings us to our final world", continued Teller. "Frau Doktor, would you do us the honors on this one?"

"It would be my pleasure, Herr Teller", said Doktor Silke Mertesacker, geneticist and chair of the science board The Company had appointed for this mission. She stood up and addressed the others: 'Planet EE-L5' is the most Earth-like in terms of size, continental layout, and climatology. It is also the least populated – we estimate the total population to be somewhere between 10 and 20 million. The most densely populated region seems to lie here, in this area boxed in on all sides by mountain ranges … it also appears to be quite rich in mineral wealth."

"Looks promising", said Django. "Do we have a visual?"

"Unfortunately, we weren't able to run the viewfinders clearly, but we did manage to perform some scans of the area and we've identified two problems. First, the local atmosphere in this region is riddled in sulfur and ash and dust, in potentially harmful amounts. The very air you would breathe here is a poisonous fume. The second issue we found is a large number of active fault lines throughout the region, suggesting that it is also quite geologically unstable, prone to frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity. One does not simply live here. I can't imagine that its inhabitants live beyond the age of 30."

"That said, it is for these reasons that the best place to colonize is this central region, right here. We've identified several large cities whom we could trade with, but otherwise much of the land is completely barren. Oh, and we did identify another Human subspecies here". The projector found a few images taken by the long-range cameras that showed some of the local villagers of this world interacting with … what could best be described as children, were it not for their recognizably 'adult' faces.

"What, looks like a bunch of midgets to me", said Fred, rather dismissively.

Doktor Mertesacker simply ignored Fred. "We call them _Homo epsilon eridaniensis floresiensis_, after Earth's own 'Flores Man'. We cannot as yet confirm if these are the only human sub-species who live on EE-L5 or not. But given how sparsely populated this world is, I'm not surprised we haven't located more yet. But, all things considered, it is fair to say that EE-L5 is the least problematic world in the system. Whatever these anomalies are – 'magic' or what not – they are least active on L5. For all of these reasons, it is recommended that we establish our primary colony in the system here. I believe that Herr Teller himself will be managing this operation."

"Correct as always", said Teller, standing up, "thank you, Frau Doktor. Alright, everyone. Any questions?"

Django was the first to speak up: "What about the other planets in the system? Anything interesting there?"

Teller replied: "Good question. We identified at least four other planets, though for the time being, most of our assets are being concentrated on the L0, L4, and L5. We have however identified one of them to be a fourth habitable planet, located at the Lagrange 3 point (we call it EE-L3), and another two of the others are gas giants that seem to be quite rich in hydrogen and helium-3. Which reminds me, hey Rafa, what's the status of our refinery?"

"Refinery's good to go, Jon," said Rafael "Rafa" Mondragón, Head of the Engineering Department. "I can have gas-harvesting operations set up within the week. Obviously, things will be small scale at first – we'd need to test out the local atmospheric composition and such. But give me a couple months and we could be ramping it up to full capacity. The only limiting factor here is transportation: we'll need to use at least two of the Valkyries as fulltime dedicated harvesters if we're to keep production at that level."

"I'm sure we can work something out once we get most of the heavy assets groundside" said Teller. "We didn't travel 10 lightyears just to harvest gas. As long as our fuel supplies are stable, full prioritization of resources should be towards our groundside developments. Any other questions? Yes, Fred?"

"How exactly do you want us to deal with the locals?" asked Fred, "I mean, s'pose they don't take too kindly to us setting up shop on their land … digging up their ore … bangin' up their women …"

"Well, Fred, you can be my guest on that front", laughed Teller. "Just let the rest of us know if men and women are the same here as on Earth! Wouldn't want any unpleasant surprises, would we? But ... no, seriously, we do have a procedure for this. We have several tons of gold, and several more of iridium sitting in the hold. Standard Company policy in the event of First Contact scenarios. The gold is meant to be a gift or some form of exchange in case we meet a Pre-Space Age civilization. The iridium, of course, is for a post-Space Age one. That, and we have a few tradable goods, like medicine. Hell, we could even rent out the use of our vehicles, for a fee. Long story short, do whatever it takes to befriend the locals, trade, and what not. But don't forget why we're here. So be extra nice and convincing to the locals, and if the carrot don't work, there's always the stick. Just don't overdo it – we don't want another Alpha Centauri on our hands. Yes, what is it, Bill?"

"I dunno if this had been brought up before", said William Hicks, head of the Ground Survey Team, "but how the hell are we supposed to speak with them? We didn't bring a linguist!"

"Uh, actually, we brought _two_", said Teller, "but that's beside the point. Thing is, here is where it gets interesting. As yet, we haven't been able to get any vocal recordings from planetside – our observations have been purely visual. However, some of our boys in the linguistics department back on Earth were nice enough to run a lip-reading program over the video feeds we gave to them. What they found is … well … _they speak English._"

"What?!" came the collective shock of everyone at the table, including Django. As if the magic and the goddamn elves hadn't been enough. Though to be honest, one would have expected everyone to be desensitized to each new surprise by now…

"Yes, I know it sounds bizarre", said Teller, "but the eggheads insist that the vocal patterns line up fairly well with English and a couple of other known languages. So far, we know that some form of English is spoken on L4. This, and the elves and the 'magic', is something the UN hasn't released yet to the public – seeing how apeshit the public went, that's understandable. You know, this is one of those reasons why I'd actually be comfortable with the idea of some creator behind these world."

"What about the others?" said Raj Pradhan.

"L5 is interesting in that while they don't speak modern English", said Teller, "their _lingua francia_ does seem to bear some base grammatical similarities to old _Anglo-Saxon English_. Don't quote me on that, I'm just parroting what the linguists back on Earth said. But from what I hear, Old English is _complete utter gibberish_ anyway, so just don't count on being able to converse with them right away. At least with L5, we'll need to have the linguistics dept. work on it before we have a workable program for our universal translators".

"Okay", said Bill. "So one world speaks English, the other Old English. And what do they speak on the third one? Flemish? Dutch?"

"Uh, Flemish and Dutch are the same thing …" corrected Django.

"Well Bill, you may be more right than you think", smiled Teller. "The linguistics department recorded and identified about a dozen separate languages there, based on lip-readings of the satellite feeds. Get this: we couldn't find any English-speakers there, but it does appear that the most widely language spoken there is in fact … _German_.

"Well, at least 90% German, anyway. We also recorded traces of what appear to be … let me get this right …" Teller consulted his tablet. "… French, Russian, Finnish, Hungarian …". Teller could see the disbelief on everyone's faces as he continued down the list. "… Spanish, Italian, Gaelic, Arabic, Turkish, and _Japanese_! Hey, Saito! What a coincidence having you on the team! I guess you'd be so kind as to be our translator when we meet the Japanese of EE-L0?"

"It would be my honor, _Teller-san_" spoke up Ms. Akane Saito, who had been sitting in complete silence at the back of the room until now. Django had almost forgotten she was there.

"It's an pleasure having you onboard too, _sama_" said Teller, admiring Ms. Saito's elegant … uh … _uniform_. "How about you, Django? How's your German? Didn't you study there once or something?"

_Shit_. "Uh, a little rusty, sir, but workable", said Django. He didn't want to admit it, but most of his "German" had been learned from watching war movies and reading history books and following some silly alternate history online forum. He had spent a couple months on exchange in Germany once, but that wasn't nearly enough to get beyond the elementary level. On second thoughts, though, some measure of knowledge of history and warfare from the Medieval ages up through to the Modern Era might just come in handy on EE-L0 …

"It's fine if you're a bit rusty", said Teller. "I'm sure Captain Müller and our good _Frau Doktor_ here and the others will be happy to act as interpreters, at least until we get the universal translators programmed for the local _Spiel_".

As luck would have it, much of the ship's engineering and laboratory staff, as well as the captain himself, came either from the _Bundesrepublik_ itself, or from one of its many colonies spread throughout Sol and the neighboring systems. Hell, the _Belo Horizonte_ itself had been built by a German company, and so many of the ship's parts were labeled in both English and German. Even in the future, there just wasn't any way you could beat those ever über-efficient Teutons.

"Speaking of which, I too have a question, Herr Teller", said Doktor Mertesacker. "How soon will it be before we have regular contact established with the Earth?"

Teller replied: "Well, _Fraulein_, the EM interference we're getting from EE-L0's polar anomalies should be reduced somewhat once we get the long-range receiver properly set up. But that'll still be another week. And even then, the reception will still be limited. We'll have to limit personal Holonet download speed to 0.08 Gbps … so I'm afraid that downloading Holoporn and streaming Holoflix is out of the question." Django didn't know if he was supposed to find this funny or scowl in disappointment.

"That's okay", said Fred, "I brought 10 exabytes of movies on my hard-drive if anyone wants."

"And another 25 exabytes of _Arcturian holoporn_ too, right?" laughed Rafa.

Fred gave Rafa the finger, and everyone else laughed.

"Now, Arcturian poontang aside", snapped Teller, seriously, "I want you all to understand that everything that goes on groundside is strictly Level 6 clearance. No, I don't want to hear of any of you or your co-workers releasing something to the Holonet or posting shit onto Spacebook just because they hope 'it'll go viral' or something. All of the holowaves are through Company-owned-and-monitored channels anyway, so that kinda limits what you can post if you still value your job. For better or worse, what happens on the ground stays on the ground unless I approve it. Sorry to be all Big Brother on you guys, but confidentiality is of the utmost importance when dealing with the unknown."

"Speakin' o' security", said Sarah, "do we have enough guards to protect all of our installations and personnel adequately?"

"Well, that's a tricky one. The UNCDF was kind enough to send us 6 squads of Colonial Marines, but that was before we knew we would be dealing with a _billion_ potentially hostile natives. I'm afraid we can't rely on the Marines to be everywhere at the same time. Most of the time, you'll be on your own. You'll all be issued standard security side-arms that you will be expected to keep on you at all times. I had a word with Lt. Archer, and he's offered to give you guys firearms and survivalist training if you so choose … which I do recommend. We did bring a few automated turret defenses, but I suggest that you all stay in groups of at least three whenever leaving the compound".

"What about the natives?" said Chen, "I'm sure we could bring some of them onboard as allies."

"Possibly. The problem is that these are Medieval feudal societies at best, and probably in constant war with one another. To be officially allied with one faction or another means that if our ally goes to war, they'll drag us into it whether we like it or not. Even if it is to our benefit, this is an awfully slippery slope we'd be treading, you know, the whole 'Non _Direct_ Intervention' Clause of the UNASEC Prime Directive and what not. So stay focused on building up diplomatic and trade relations on the understanding that our official political position is one of neutrality. And if a war does break out, you must inform me immediately. Next question. Yes, Raj?"

"Sir, should we be concerned about any local diseases?" said Raj Pradhan.

"Well, not if you had the thorough immunization procedure before we left Earth. But we're still gonna have to go through a thorough decontamination before we set out tomorrow. We don't want to be killing off the natives with our Earth bugs, do we? Next question."

"I've got one", said Django. "How's supply-side looking?"

"I can take this one, Mr. Teller", said Angela, "our supplies are sufficient for now. We left Earth with 3 year's worth of frozen rehydratable packs just in case the local ecosystem in Epsilon Eridani turned out to be totally inimical to Human life. But now that doesn't look to be a problem anymore".

"Which, frankly, I'm relieved about", added Teller. "I'm sure that whatever the hell it is the locals grow out here, I'd still rather eat that than another one of those rehydratable lunchsets." There was universal agreement from everyone at the table.

Angela continued: "Once Doktor Mertesacker is able to cross our high-yielding varieties with the local seed, which are probably better adapted to the local climate, we should be able to start planting our own within the year. Once we have our chemical plants all up and running by then, we can even sell fertilizer and pesticides to the locals."

"So", said Teller, "do we have anymore questions? No? So I assume we're all up to speed on the situation? Good. Like I said, yes, I was as surprised as you guys are now when I first heard the news. And yes, we have had to modify our plans somewhat. But that doesn't change anything about just who we are, or what our aims are. We are The Company, and we'll get what we want in one way or another! Now, before we adjourn this meeting, I have one last thing I'd like to share."

Teller reached into his locker and pulled out a bottle of something and a stack of plastic cups …

"Is that ... ?" began Sarah, "no, you didn't!"

"Is that even _legal_ onboard ship?" inquired Daniel.

Teller smiled. "Originally, I wasn't going to bring this along due to some silly law about it being restricted or something … but you know what? Fuck it! We're The Company, we take whatever we bloody well please!" With that, Teller distributed the cups out to everyone and then passed the bottle around. When everyone had poured themselves a drink, Teller raised his and said: "… and so, ladies and gentlemen, answer me this! Are we still an effective team?"

"One-hundred-_and-one_ percent!" came the unanimous cheer of approval from around the table.


	4. Chapter 3: Off To EE-L4

**Docking Bay - U.N.S.V. **_**Belo Horizonte **_**ISXCT-138**

**Epsilon Eridani System**

**10.5 Lightyears from Sol**

**ETA: 3 hours  
**  
Daniel Zimmerman had to admit that there were days he just found it hard to keep up with the boss. This was one of them. Frederick Kovacs was feeling jovial as he strode along the docking bay like some mythical hero out of a Wagnerian opera production. Today was a day where history would be made!

The last of the containers was being loaded onto Vakyrie 02. From a distance, when viewing the shuttle next to the massive form of the _Belo Horizonte _itself, it was easy to forget that each of these spacecraft were pretty large in their own right. Each of the Valkyrie shuttles was the size of a civilian jetliner, but with a far larger transport capacity (due to the fatter fuselage and more powerful engines). The only issue was that these shuttles were so large, they had to be kept docked on the _outside_ of the _Belo Horizonte_'s hull; personnel boarded through an external umbilical boarding tube, while heavier cargo was loaded by remote-controlled exobots. If the crew needed to perform external repairs, they either had to go out in exosuits, or else land the Valkyrie on the nearest planet with a breathable atmosphere.

For this mission, only 50 people would be riding down as part of the initial shore party; the rest of the shuttle's interior space was set aside for the shipping containers that carried most of the team's equipment, as well as parts for their prefabricated garrison base. As they arrived at the entrance to the boarding tunnel, Daniel took a look out of the windows and saw the exobots at work, maneuvering the last of the containers through the shuttle's rear cargo doors.

"Cargo's loaded up and ready", said Lieutenant Torrin Holmen, Pilot of Valkyrie 02, as she emerged from the airlock, removing her helmet. "Once we've sealed and pressurized the hull, we can begin boarding".

"Thanks Torry," said Fred, "Daniel, let's get a head count while we wait. Can you pull up the passenger inventory?"

"Right on it, sir", said Daniel, fumbling with his holo-tablet.

Sure enough, within a few minutes, the "all-clear" green light was shone and the airlock was opened up. Everyone shuffled in a neat and orderly manner. Halfway through the boarding tunnel, where the ship's gravity was no longer felt, everyone had to instead maneuver themselves forward using hand rails built into the walls.

It took about five minutes to get everyone seated and buckled up. Fred and Daniel were the last ones to board, having first made sure that everyone had checked in and been accounted for. Then, as he maneuvered himself into his seat and strapped in, Fred grabbed hold of one of the microphone-headsets attached to the panel in front of him and spoke.

"Alright folks, listen up!" he began, his voice booming over the intercom. "Don't worry, I'm not here to bore you with another one of those 'this is a historic day in the history of mankind' speeches. Seriously, those tend to get a little boring and pretentious after a while. What I will say is this: 'giant leap for mankind' or not, this is a job like any other. So just stay focused on the task you've been assigned, and let's save the sentiments for the after-party … because drinks are on me tonight! Now let's get this big budget camping trip on the road!"

"Heads up", came the voice of Lt. Holmen over the intercom. "Launching in T-minus 10 seconds and counting … "

"Alright, but just one more thing, …" said Fred. "Are we still an effective team?"

"One hundred _and one_ percent!" boomed everyone together.

5 …

"Fuck yeah, we are!" said Fred

4 …

"And here …"

3 …

"… We …"

2 …

"… Go!"

1 …

_**CLUNK**_

The cabin shook as Valkyrie 02 broke free from the landing gantry that kept it cradled to the underbelly of the _Belo Horizonte_. Then, for a couple moments, nothing else really happened.

"So … is that it?" said Fred. "I was kinda expecting something a little more …"

_**RRROOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRR!**__**  
**_  
The entire cabin shuddered as the mighty fusion engines of the shuttle ignited, cutting Fred off, and immediately accelerating the shuttle to hypersonic velocity, hurtling down towards the surface of EE-L4 …


	5. Chapter 4: Armaments

**U.N.S.V.**_**Belo Horizonte **_**ISXCT-138  
Epsilon Eridani System  
10.5 LY from Sol  
ETA: 3 hours  
**  
Jonathan Teller had watched the entire departure sequence of Valkyrie 02 from the comfort of the ship's observation deck. He too had wanted to join Fred and Daniel for the inauguration of The Company's first colony in the Epsilon Eridani System. Alas, however, time was a commodity in short supply. If he was to stay on schedule, the EE-L5 expedition would need to depart the next day, and there was still much to organize.

As Teller arrived back into his office, he found Angela and Django waiting for him, along with a tall, uniformed officer of the United Nations Colonial Marine Corps, clad in a khaki service uniform complete with a peaked cap.

"Mr. Teller," said Angela, "this is First Lieutenant Raymond Archer, commanding officer of the United Nations Colonial Defense Force (UNCDF) task force attached to this expedition." Lt. Archer stood to attention and saluted Teller.

"Lieutenant," said Teller, returning the salute, "it's a pleasure to finally meet you in person. Here, take a seat. I apologize for not having had the opportunity to meet before we left Earth. Tell me: what's the status of your platoon?"

"Sir," began Lt. Archer in a slight Londoner accent, "Fire Team Alpha has just departed together with the EE-L4 expedition, under the command of Sergeant Hawthorne. Fire Teams Bravo and Charlie are preparing for tomorrow's mission to EE-L5. The rest are on standby."

"I see. And I trust your men are taking these unexpected developments in stride?"

"Well, sir, expecting the unexpected is exactly what we train for in the Corps" came the Lieutenant's nonchalant reply. "I've studied some of the satellite feeds. It looks like most of the native are more or less at Medieval-level – perhaps seventeenth century at best. In a one-on-one fight, our firearms would far outclass most of what they have. And then there's the heavy equipment, too… if need be."

"Well, I hope it doesn't come to that," said Teller.

"I hope so too, sir. But the fact remains that we're now facing up to a billion potential hostiles. As well as the, ahem, _unknown variables_ that were mentioned. Sir."

"So you've seen my request?"

"Yes, sir. And you'll be pleased to know that I've just gotten word from High Command. Your request for permission to create a native militia has been conditionally approved. I've been assigned to act as both trainer, as well as inspector."

"Thank you, Lieutenant," said Teller. "Then we can proceed. We're looking for between 50 and 100 riflemen for each colony, depending on the threat level posed by the locals. Preferably within the next two months. That's why I also requested for weapons that are relatively straightforward and simple to use."

"Yes, sir, I saw your email. Here, let me show you what we have", said Lt. Archer, as he pulled out his holo-tablet and began keying in the pass code. He continued: "the UNCDF database keeps on file the fabrication instructions for almost every gun ever produced in the history of mankind. We can even design one from scratch. But most of the time, it is far more expedient to simply modify an existing model. Most of our preset designs have already been pre-adapted for compatibility with UNCDF standard-issue ammunition".

"Good," said Teller, "so what do you have?"

The Lieutenant held up his holo-tablet and pulled up his first selection; at once, a 3D holographic image of an old Victorian-Era lever-action rifle materialized in thin air for all to see. "This beautiful girl," began Lt. Archer, visibly taking pride in the technological and military accomplishments of his native England, "is the **Martini-Henry Rifle**. First introduced by the Royal Small Arms Factory of Enfield in 1870, this would go on to become one of the most iconic service rifles of Her Majesty's armed forces. Though she was retired from service only 20 years later, in that time, she partook in many of the Empire's most iconic war fronts, from the Khyber Pass, right down to the battles against the Zulu."

"_Zulu_?" piped up Django, "hell yeah, that's an awesome movie! Even after 200 years."

"I couldn't agree more, sir," said the Lieutenant.

"What are the specs?" asked Teller.

"It's only a single-shot rifle, sir, but it's still far ahead of anything I would imagine the locals are using. With a little training, you can put in about 12 aimed shots per minute. They were originally designed to use a .577-inch caliber cartridge, but later models were updated to use the .303-inch caliber cartridge that was the Empire's staple right up 'til the Second World War. The 3D blueprints you see here have already been chambered for our newer and more advanced 7.62x51mm rounds. They'll be able to reach up to 600m effective range, easily. All in all, an effective rifle. And yet, it is also simple enough that a large number of knock-offs were produced by local Afridi gunsmiths of Afghanistan. "Pass-made Rifles", they were called. Of course, they were never as good quality as the original rifles made in good ol' Blighty."

"Wait, hang on," cut in Teller, "so the natives were able to reproduce them? Is this something we should be concerned about?"

"Well, sir," said Lt. Archer, "bear in mind that even if the locals have a tech base capable of replicating the Martini, I have serious doubts that their gunsmiths could churn them out on the level that our fabrication plants can. And even if they could, would they be able to produce the requisite ammunition in any meaningful amounts? I chose the Martini primarily because it is centuries ahead of any Medieval weapon, but it is still 'primitive' enough, at least compared to our assault rifles, that a few of them falling into native hands would not really pose that much of a threat to our operation."

"How soon can we begin production?" asked Django.

"In theory, as soon as the fabrication plants are set up and ready to go," replied the Lieutenant, "in practice, though, we'll need a steady and reliable supply of the basic raw materials in order to keep up – steel, wood, brass, and so forth. I'll have to take a look at our supply situation again, but I think we can have the first hundred or so delivered within the month. Once we have settled the logistics issue, we could be churning out up to another 600 in the following two months. Provided, of course, we settle only on the Martini, and ignore the other options on the table."

"Yes, please show me what else you have," said Teller.

Lt. Archer pulled up a second image on his holo-tablet. "This is the **Short Magazine Lee-Enfield Mk. III**," he began, "introduced in 1907, this is another icon of Her Majesty's armed forces. This rifle, good sir, has seen action in the First, Second, _and Third_ World Wars. Bolt-action, uses 5- or 10-round charger clips. A well-trained rifleman could put in up to 30 aimed shots-per-minute, though most would probably still manage about 20. With the old .303 British cartridges, she would make 600m effective range, but with our newer 7.62x51mm UNCDF cartridges, she'll make 800m easily. Of course, she will be a little more complex to build than the Martini; we could manage about 500 or so with the time and resources needed for 700 Martini-Henries. For this reason, I suggest that we produce both, but at a ratio of 4 Martinis for every Enfield. That way, we can equip most of our native militia with the former, but issue the latter to our more 'elite' native units. Don't worry, I doubt the natives have the industrial capacity to copy the Enfield any more than they could with the Martini. And even if they could, we'll simply respond with a little more dakka…"

The Lieutenant pulled up a third rifle on his holo-tablet, a newer and more advanced rifle than the other two, though still fairly low-tech compared to the UNCDF's standard equipment. "This is the **Mk. 14 Enhanced Battle Rifle**, first produced by the United States Navy at the dawn of the 21st century. It is a selective fire designated marksman rifle chambered for the same 7.62x51mm round as the Martini and the Enfield. Plus, it's well suited for an assortment of add-ons and accessories, like all kinds of modern sights and targeting devices that allow us to improve the performance of this century-and-a-half old design. Only major issue is the weight, though that helps soften up some of the recoil. Now, this is something on a level quite a bit higher than the Martini or the Enfield. And so I propose that we assign these only to our personnel who came from Earth. I'm not inclined to share these with the native forces any time soon. Even though I can assure you that the natives do not have the ability to reproduce these anytime soon. Nevertheless, just one of these falling into the wrong hands can threaten the lives of our employees in ways that a dozen Martinis couldn't."

"How is that?" said Teller

"The EBR is accurate, reliable, and deadly," said Archer, "at least on a level far more so than the Enfield or the Martini. They have an effective range of well over a kilometer, and can be used in semi-auto, burst, and full auto mode, with a rate-of-fire of 725 rpm. They come with either 10 or 20-round detachable box magazines. All in all, it's a pretty effective and ergonomic design, though it would still require more time and resources to build than either of the earlier models. If I had to estimate the cost, in time and resources, of one of these relative to the Enfield, I'd say it's at least twice as much. If you ask me, I say we limit production to just 20 per colony and assign them only to our personnel from Earth whom I have personally trained in their use. And even then, I suggest that we only bring them out if the native hostile elements prove a little too much for the Martinis and the Enfields to handle."

"Fair enough," said Teller, "now tell me about ammunition. You mentioned all three guns use the same type of bullet?"

"Yes, indeed, sir," replied Archer, as he typed some commands into his holo-tablet – immediately, the image of the three rifles disappeared, replaced instead by a detailed 3D cutaway schematic of a rifle cartridge. "Our **7.62x51mm UNCDF cartridge** is the staple of the Colonial Marine Corps, being used by most of our assault rifles, designated marksman rifles, machine guns, and our automated defense turrets. The ship's arsenal currently has about half-a-million of them onboard. This cartridge is based on the 7.62x51mm NATO round, which was the most commonly used rifle cartridge among the Allied forces at around the time of the Third World War. Of course, the older bullets used a much weaker propellant, so they only packed half as much punch." He paused briefly. "By the way, now would be a good time to warn you all that you might be tempted to try your hand at some 'Hollywood/A-Team firing'. Don't – it's a bad idea. First of all, we don't have nearly enough ammunition to expend on full auto. And secondly, most of those movies were made using or using blanks. In real life, the recoil from sustained automatic fire is enough to break your bones, or scatter the fire everywhere. This is why we train the men mainly for semi-auto and burst."

"But will semi-auto be enough to suit our needs?" said Django.

"I assure you, sirs, the basic round still packs enough of a punch that just one can kill most human-sized targets," replied Archer, "it's certainly far ahead of any of the longbows or crossbows the locals would be using. The nice thing too is that this round comes in many different flavors – we've got incendiary rounds, hollow-point rounds, saboted flechette rounds, heavy anti-armour rounds, which are like mini shaped charges. There's even a variant that contains a radioactive isotope. We call it the "dirty round" because it gives off enough radiation to kill off most human victims within 3 months. This is actually pretty useless on the battlefield, but it does have its uses – for tracking, or for damaging the enemy's morale. But like I said, for our purposes here, I think the best choice is to go with the most basic one – it will be far easier to manufacture locally."

"What materials will we need to do that?" asked Teller.

"Nothing much. We can use steel for the cartridges instead of brass – it'll be a lot cheaper and easier to get hold off. Granted, it's not as resistant to corrosion, but we expect to use most of these bullets fairly soon anyway. That, and we'll also need plenty of nitrates and potassium. The main limiting factor is how much of that will you want to allocate to fertilizer and what not once we get the chemical plants running."

"Don't worry about that," said Teller, "the safety and preservation of the colonies takes top priority. Just do your part in training the men, and I promise you you'll have all the ammunition you need."

"Good," said Archer, "because between training, hunting, and any actual combat, I foresee that we'll be expending at least 50,000 rounds a month. Per colony. And that's excluding the ammunition requirements for our pistols, our shotguns, our sniper rifles, and our heavy equipment, which use different types of rounds."

If Teller was shocked in any way by this assessment, he didn't show it. Instead, he calmly asked: "on the topic of pistols, did you find any suitable designs? I want all of our personnel carrying one at all times."

"Yes sir, I believe I have just the thing here…" the 3D hologram of the 7.62mm cartridge dissipated as Archer pulled up the image of a handgun. It looked simple and primitive compared to the modern handguns of the UNCDF, but Teller nevertheless recognized it immediately from a number of holo-movies and holovision shows he had seen. The lieutenant continued: "as far as security sidearms are concerned, I thought that this would be the ideal choice for our personnel from Earth. Designed by the great John Browning himself, the **Colt M1911** was introduced at the start of the 20th century, and proved to be such a success that the US military kept it as their standard service pistol for nearly a century. It wasn't until well into the 21st century that they finally retired her from service. Like the Enfield Rifle, she saw service across at least three different World Wars. It's a short recoil operation semi-automatic pistol that fire .45 caliber ACP rounds with high accuracy, moderate recoil, and still packs plenty of stopping power against most human-sized targets. Very user-friendly. The magazines hold up to 7 rounds each. In addition to the standard rounds, we have the fabrication instructions for a hollow-point variant, an incendiary tracer, a heavy armor penetrating round, a birdshot shell, and a radioactive round that's useful for tracing a target."

"And this would be issued only to our personnel from Earth?" inquired Teller.

"Yes sir," replied the officer, "For safety reasons, it is probably best that we keep our native auxiliaries reliant on swords and bayonets for close quarters defense. These pistols are far easier to conceal and use as assassination weapons … should one fall into the wrong hands. As I said in my earlier email, I think it is best if our staff remain within the safety of the compound at all times until we can have enough of these produced to issue one for each of them. My sergeants and I will also assist with training on how to use them. Now, concerning something to give our mercs a little close-range bite…" Archer pulled up a fifth image, which looked similar to the first one, albeit with some heavy modifications, such as a shorter but wider barrel. "For simplicity's sake, I thought it would be best to arm the troops with a shotgun variant that uses the same basic design as our standard-issue rifle. This is the **Greener Police Gun**, which is basically the Martini-Henry Rifle converted into a 12-gauge shotgun. Originally, they were designed to use only a unique type of shotgun shell, so that they would be useless if someone managed to steal one. This variant here is far simpler and just uses the same shells as our own UNCDF shotguns."

Archer gave Teller and Django a minute to digest all these details before he then moved to the final image on his tablet. "The final design I'd like to share with you sir is a modified **Holland And Holland Royal Grade Rifle**, chambered for the **.700 Punisher Express**, which is a newer round released within the last decade." Archer pulled up an image of an enormous gun, which easily dwarfed the other three rifles for size. Next to this new gun was displayed the special round it used, which made even the 7.62mm rounds look positively tiny by comparison. "Each of these heavy rounds were designed to pack up to 62 kJ of energy … which is _a lot_, in case you were wondering; that's almost as powerful as our Anti-Materiel Rifles. You might just want to be a little careful when you take the shot."

"Sounds as dangerous to our own people as it is to the locals," muttered Teller.

"Only without proper training," replied Archer, "I thought this particular design would be a good idea considering the possible, uh, _wildlife_ we might be encountering during our stay here. This is basically the most powerful handheld weapon we're willing to permit 'civilians' to use – for anything more, you'll just have to let the Marines handle it. I would say that five or so of these for each Colony would be enough for the time being. Right. I'm afraid that's all I have at the moment. I hope sir that this has been useful for you."

"Thank you, Lieutenant," said Teller, "Your assistance is very much valued. But I'd like to know one more thing: you mentioned earlier that your men also brought some of their heavier gear from Earth. As acting field manager and representative of the corporate entity sponsoring, you know, _half_ of this mission, I'd sure like to know what exactly you have onboard."

"Sir, as I stated before, I'm not at liberty to divulge the exact details of what we're carrying onboard, for security purposes. My apologies, sir, it's nothing personal. Strict orders from High Command. Sir."

"I see", said Teller, somewhat put off. "Well, in that case, forgive me for asking you to disobey your orders. It's just that it would be far more helpful to our planning if we knew exactly whom, or _what_, we could count on to defend our colonies."

"I understand that you're under a lot of pressure, sir. But don't worry; I assure you, on my honour as a Marine, that we have your back. And should things take a turn for the worst, God forbid, the fighting men and women of the United Nations Colonial Marine Corps will be ready."

* * *

_**Footnotes:** and so it begins! Stay tuned, as the next story update will be posted as part of a separate story: **Event Horizon: Storm Of Magic - Book One: Autumn's Frontier**, which will be posted to my channel ... soon enough. Thanks everyone for reading, and I look forward to seeing you all on Planet EE-L4 next. But also be sure to keep an eye on the Prologue, as I will continuously update the Prologue with new background material to expand this little universe I have created._


	6. Appendix 2: The UNSV Belo Horizonte

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[SEARCH: belo_horizonte, epsilon_eridani, mission_profile, detailed_cargo_manifest]

**_+As you have requested, here is the mission profile for the U.N.S.V. Belo Horizonte ISXCT-138, currently en route to Epsilon Eridani:+_**

* * *

**UNITED NATIONS SPACE VESSEL (U.N.S.V.) _BELO_**_** HORIZONTE **_**("Beautiful Horizon") ISXCT-138**  
-_Ad Ultra Horizontem, Per Aspera_-

**Model**: _Columbia_-class Interstellar Exploration and Colonization Transport (ISXCT)  
**Manufacturer**: Galaxiewerke AG Orbital Shipyards, Mars, Sol System  
**Commissioned**: July 8, 2149 C.E.  
**Owner**: United Nations Administration for Space Exploration and Colonization (UNASEC)  
**Commanding Officer**: Capt. Hans Ulrich Müller (2152 – present)  
**Motto**: _Ad Ultra Horizontem, Per Aspera_ (Latin: "Reach beyond the Horizon, through adversity")  
**Namesake**: named after the Belo Horizonte colony in Alpha Centauri, itself named after the Earth city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil.  
**Current Status**: under part-time lease to a private company; currently on an important exploration mission in the Epsilon Eridani System (departed Sol System in early 2154 C.E.)

**TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:****  
**  
**Length**: 2,536m (8,320ft)  
**Mass**: 6.9 million metric tons (empty)  
**Power Plant**:  
+1 x Antimatter Annihilation Reactor  
+2 x Lithium Hydride Fusion Reactors (backup)  
**Propulsion**:  
+Sub-light: 8 x Centaur Z78 Ion Thrusters  
+Trans-light: 1 x Hyperion 8 Tachyon Shunt Trans-Light Drive (TLD)  
+Maneuvering thrusters  
**Top Speed**: 29.7c (empty)  
**Cruising Speed**: 21.3c (fully loaded)  
**Armament**:  
+12 x Markalite Medium Point-Defense Lasers (80 MW output each)  
+8 x Harpoon Missile Launch tubes (12 missiles each)  
**Transport Capacity**:  
+Passengers: 800 cryo-pods installed (for long haul voyages); up to 4,000 (for short haul voyages);  
+Cargo: up to 5.2 million metric tons

**ONBOARD COMPLEMENT (PERSONNEL):****  
**+1 integrated ship's Artificial Intelligence "Skippy"  
+Officers: 21 (incl. Captain)  
+Enlisted Crew: 186  
+Shuttle Crew: 37 (incl. pilots and maintenance crewmen)  
+Passengers: 495 (incl. all Company personnel, as well as independently hired scientists, engineers, doctors, geologists and biologists, and 8 wealthy adventure-seekers who paid to come along on the voyage as "a vacation". This figure does NOT include synthetics)  
+Security Detail: 54 Marines of the United Nations Colonial Defense Forces (UNCDF) - 6 squads of nine troopers each  
+Total Personnel: 793

**ONBOARD COMPLEMENT (MATERIEL ASSETS):  
**+1 x mobile gas processing refinery  
+4 x Borotech B7 industrial-grade mining drills  
+2 x Borotech L3 industrial-grade mining laser  
+3 x Borotech T3 "Badger" road-cutting machines  
+4 x XT70 Valkyrie SSTO heavy transport  
+8 x LXT30 Falke/Falcon SSTO light transport  
+3 x prefabricated garrison bases  
+30 x HULK Mk. III units  
+14 x LMPUV-19 "Wild Cat" vehicles  
+22 x MPUT-7 "Kodiak" trucks  
+3 x Nexus-8…**_ +ATTENTION! You do not have the necessary security clearance to view the complete cargo manifest! Please speak to your superior officer if viewing the complete cargo manifest is absolutely essential to your ability to perform your assigned task!+_**

* * *

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	7. Appendix 3: Timeline Of Events

_**Author's Notes:**_

_***Disclaimer 1:** All other characters, places, and events are completely fictitious and original creations of the author; any resemblance to real life persons, events, or places is unintentional **unless intended as parody or satire**.  
***Disclaimer 2:** Planets EE-L4, L0, L5, and L3 all use different calendars than that used on Earth. Hence, a date expressed on one world will not necessarily sync up to a date expressed on another world.__  
_

* * *

**_Event Horizon: Storm Of Magic - Prologue_**

**_TIMELINE 1: THE VOYAGE TO EPSILON ERIDANI_**

**Day -180: Apr 04, 2154 C.E.  
Atlas Station, in orbit over Earth, Sol System  
**The _United Nations Space Vessel (UNSV) Belo Horizonte_ ISXCT-138 departs Atlas Station, under the command of Capt. Hans Ulrich Müller. Destination: Epsilon Eridani System. ETA: 180 days. Their mission: to explore and colonize three recently-discovered M-class planets that orbit the star and have been confirmed to possess gravitic, atmospheric, and climatological conditions perfectly suited to supporting Human life. To find one such planet is rare enough already; to have located three in the same system is stated by most astronomers and astrophysicists to be a "one-in-a-trillion-cubed" chance.

This mission is a joint collaboration between the United Nations Administration for Space Exploration and Colonization (UNASEC) and The Company™, a private multinational corporation with major investments in space exploration, mining, and colonization, all throughout the Sol and Alpha Centauri Systems. The UN has agreed to grant The Company™ exclusive trade, mineral, and colonization rights over the entire star system in return for co-financing all explorations of the system.

For the first leg of the journey, the _Belo Horizonte_ is propelled by eight massive Centaur Z78 Ion Engines, powered by the ship's main matter-antimatter annihilation reactor. Each individual thruster produces a plasma contrail visible for tens of thousands of miles in every direction. Meanwhile, the ship's mighty Hyperion 8-class Tachyon-Shunt Trans-Light Drive (TLD) is activated and begins warming up as the ship's resident A.I. "Skippy" calculates the best hyperspace trajectory to reach Epsilon Eridani as quickly yet safely as possible.

**Day -179  
En Route to Epsilon Eridani  
**Most of the crew and passengers of the _UNSV B. Horizonte_ enter cryogenic hibernation. Only a handful of crew remains awake in order to monitor the ship's systems while final preparations for the trans-light jump are made.

**Day -178  
En route to Epsilon Eridani  
**The last remaining crewmembers enter cryogenic hibernation. Due to the hazards posed when the ship crosses the lightspeed barrier, as well as due to time dilation, it is standard UNASEC practice for all crewmembers to be placed in cryo for the duration of the Trans-Light jump.

**Day -177  
En route to Epsilon Eridani  
**The _UNSV B. Horizonte_ hits the lightspeed barrier. The entire ship is transferred into an alternate mirror state wherein the ship and everything within it are composed entirely of tachyons. Once having crossed the light barrier, the ship is hypothetically capable of infinite speed simply by shedding mass - however, the ship's maximum speed is limited by the amount of mass/energy needed to propel the ship back across the light barrier once it arrives at its destination.

Due to Doppler shifting of the light spectrum, lightwaves in front of the ship are compressed, creating a blue shift, while lightwaves behind the ship are expanded, creating a red shift.

**Day -178  
En route to Epsilon Eridani  
**After 5 days of acceleration, _UNSV B. Horizonte_ finally reaches its cruising speed at 21.3c, or 6.39 million km/sec.

**Day -146  
Alpha Centauri System, 4.1 LY from Sol  
**The UNSV_ Joseph Conrad _ISXCT-152, the newest, largest, and most advanced starship in the UNASEC fleet, completes its maiden voyage, arriving at Alpha Centauri to resupply Earth's Colonies in the system with additional personnel and colonists from Earth, food supplies and medicines, as well as specialized machinery, spare parts, and other goods that cannot yet be produced locally in the Alpha Centauri System. The ship will return to Earth with a cargo of several million tons of Iridium, Palladium, Yttrium, Neutronium, and other rare and exotic minerals that cannot be harvested locally in the Sol System in bulk quantities.

**Day -124  
Epsilon Eridani System, 10.5 LY from Sol  
**Deep Space automated probe _Heimdallr 03_ arrives in the system ahead of the _Horizonte_ mission, and begins the most detailed exploration of the system to date, in large part thanks to the drone's latest ultra-high magnification lenses, that allow the probe to peer into each planet, down to almost ground-level.

**Day -86  
Alpha Centauri System  
**After having spent the better part of the last two months offloading supplies and personnel, and loading up with over 17 million tons of rare minerals, the UNSV_ Joseph Conrad_ departs Alpha Centauri back to Earth, under the command of Capt. Tallinn Kaurava.

**Day -63  
Epsilon Eridani System  
**Due to an unexpected spike in EM activity emanating from EE-L0's polar regions, contact with deep space probe drone _Heimdallr 03_ is temporarily lost. Mission control back on Earth cannot do anything more than step back and let the automated probe do its work by itself. Without further instruction from Earth, the little probe droid continues along its assigned route, scanning and surveying the planets of the Epsilon Eridani system by itself...

**Day -45  
Epsilon Eridani System  
**The EM activity in the system temporarily subsides, allowing mission control to reestablish contact with _Heimdallr 03_. The probe droid is able to beam back various data scans and video footage it shot and recorded while in isolation. What the team back on Earth sees surprises and shakes them to their very core.

**Day -41  
Tokyo, Japan, Earth  
**Top officials, executives, and representatives of both UNASEC and The Company are summoned to The Company's office in Tokyo, Japan for an emergency conference on how to deal with the new situation that has arisen as a result of the recent discoveries made by _Heimdallr 03_.

**Day -35  
Tokyo, Japan, Earth  
**After days of debate and deliberation between representatives of the UNASEC and The Company, it is decided to reveal the discovery of a living "Exo-human" civilization on another world to the general public. However, as a compromise, UNASEC agrees to reveal only one of the planets, as a way of gauging the public reaction before revealing the other two. A date is set for when the news will be made, but it is first agreed to show the news to top scientists and anthropologists for their input.

**Day -24  
Geneva, Switzerland, Earth  
**UN Secretary General Miguel Luiz Santos Da Silva reveals the footage in question of the natives of EE-L4 before a panel of selected scientists and anthropologists behind closed doors at the UN Institute of Advanced Sciences in Geneva, Switzerland. The stunned scientists are at a complete loss to explain what they see before them.

Despite the tight security surrounding the panel and the non-disclosure agreements signed by the scientists, word still somehow managed to get out to the general public through the Holonet. It is currently unknown who was the mole who leaked the information to the web, though computer analysts at The Company are working overtime to identify the leak.

Nevertheless, most people who heard the news were quick to dismiss it as a rumor at best, and a government conspiracy at worst. It wasn't until two days later that the "Great Discovery of EE-L4" made it to the headlines.

**Day -22: Sept 09, 2154 C.E.  
New York City, USA, Earth  
**UN Secretary General Miguel Da Silva announces to the general public the news of "the Great Discovery of EE-L4" at a press conference held at the UN General Assembly. As expected, the announcement generates shockwaves across the news media and around Earth and the Colonies.

Several prominent world leaders, incl. the President of the United States, the German Chancellor, the Chinese Premier, the Emperor of Japan, Her Holiness the Pope, and the Dalai Lama all release public statements commenting on the news and congratulating both The Company and UNASEC for this marvelous discovery.

In the wake of the announcement, the value of shares in the exo-planetary exploration sector skyrockets (no pun intended). The Company™, naturally, is the big winner of the day at the stock market, but other major space-faring corporations, like Nova Corp. and Guanlong Enterprises, also do very well.

**Day -21  
Various locations around Earth  
**No sooner does the revelation of "The Great Discovery of EE-L4" make headlines, when The Company™ already finds its offices in New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Tokyo, Sydney, Toronto, San Francisco, Luna, and Mars all besieged by protestors. Most of these protestors are angry at The Company™'s exclusive access rights to the Epsilon Eridani System, and are worried that The Company™ will exploit the locals. Higher-ups within The Company™ suspect that at least some of these protests are being secretly backed by their corporate rivals, including Nova Corp.

**New Pyongyang, Mars  
**Premier Kim Suk Hwang of the Martian Remnant of the Former DPRK (aka "North Korea") announces that his regime will not tolerate any attempts by the "capitalist Earth pigdogs" to "invade and conquer" a planet that "rightfully belongs to the Glorious Korean people". He warns UNASEC and The Company™ that their continued activities in the Epsilon Eridani System will be met with repercussions. As with previous threats made by the DPRK in the past, most of these are unceremoniously ignored.

**The Holy See, Italy, Earth  
**Her Holiness Pope Aurelia II convenes with her College of Cardinals to discuss the implications of "the Great Discovery of EE-L4" on the church and to try to interpret God's Will.

**New York City, USA, Earth  
**UN Secretary General Miguel Da Silva is the main guest hosted by CyberOprah Winfrey 2.0 on her talk show, _Oprah 3000_, where he discusses the work UNASEC is doing and the lessons humanity can learn from the exploration of EE-L4. The episode breaks a new Holovision ratings record, beating out that set earlier that season by _Earth's Got Talent_.

**Day 20  
New York City, USA, Earth  
**In a desperate bid to stay on par with their competitors, Nova Corp. announces that they too have discovered a habitable planet in the Sirius System, and are now fast-tracking plans to send a colonization mission there. However, in light of the other news, hardly anyone bats an eyelid to Nova Corp., and those that do accuse Nova of trying to cash in on The Company's success.

Enthusiasm over "The Great Discovery" reignites an interest in the fantasy genre. The popular _Throne Of Blood_ books by Latino author Jorge Ramón Ricardo de Martín (popularly known by his fans as 'JRRM'), and the _Rings Of The Nibelung_ trilogy by Johann R.R. Von Tolkynen (an adaptation of the classic Germanic myth of the _Nibelunglied_) all make it into the Intergalactic Herald Tribune's Bestseller list for the week. Meanwhile, an operatic performance of Richard Wagner's _Götterdamerung_ in Rome, Italy sells out within minutes.

Mr. Domenech E. Belleville, Executive Director of The Company™'s Space Exploration and Colonization Branch, appears as a panelist on _The Hour_ on the _Galactic News Network_ (GNN), where he engages in an extended heated debate with several other panelists over allegations of corruption and The Company™'s monopoly over all activity going on in the Epsilon Eridani System.

**Day -19  
Paris, France, Earth  
**A clash breaks out between anti-Company™ protestors and the French _Gendarmerie nationale_. 12 people are seriously injured and another 15 arrested.

**New York City, USA, Earth  
**Over a dozen major international media conglomerates jostle to bid for the rights for shoot a documentary in Epsilon Eridani.

**Bangkok, Thailand, Earth  
**Tulku 8734 "Tenzin" - the world's first A.I. to convert to a major religion and the founder of the Roboddhism spiritual movement (of robots and A.I.s who have converted to Buddhism) - gives a sermon to his fellow Robotkind and to an attending audience of gathered 300,000 cyborgs and humans on how "The Great Discovery" has the potential to help elevate Humanity's well-being and spiritual enlightenment.

**Day -18  
Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, Earth  
**Over 400,000 people gather at a New Age spiritual fest on Ipanema Beach to celebrate "The Great Discovery" ... with lots and lots of sex and drugs and other New Age spiritual shit.

**Day -16  
Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, Earth  
**After two days of intoxicated revelry, the event is forcibly broken up by the _Policia Civil do Estado do Rio De Janeiro_. Some of the participants, high on various 22nd century psychedelic cocktails, violently resist this move by the authorities. No deaths are reported, but at least 33 are injured in various ways, and over 40 arrests are made.

**Day -15  
Santa Fe ... Mars  
**The preserved cybernetic brain of famed late 21st century author Jorge Ramón Ricardo de Martín, pleased with the news of how well his books are selling in the wake of renewed interest in the fantasy genre, announces that he will begin work on the long awaited next book in his epic _Throne Of Blood_ fantasy series.

**Day -14  
Salt Lake City, USA, Earth  
**Reverend Aladanel McRichards of the Church of Latter-Day Saints announces a new campaign among Mormons throughout Earth and the Colonies to petition UNASEC to allow a team of Mormon missionaries onto the follow-up mission to Epsilon Eridani - they believe that the Human inhabitants of Epsilon Eridani are members of the family of Lehi and the Mulekites who left Ancient Israel over 2,750 years ago.

**Day -12  
Geneva, Switzerland, Earth  
**Dr. Lana Del Rio publishes her paper _Explanations For And Implications Of The Existence Of English-Speaking Xeno-Humans_ in which she highlights several, uh, explanations for and implications of the existence of English-speaking Xeno-humans on EE-L4.

**Day -11  
UNASEC Headquarters, Atlas Station, Earth  
**The UNSV_ Joseph Conrad_ is one of three "finalist ships" chosen by UNASEC for the follow-up expedition to Epsilon Eridani, along with the UNSV_ Nan-Shan_, the UNSV_ Endeavor_, and the UNSV_ Theodore Roosevelt_.

**Day -9  
Atlas Station, Earth  
**The UNSV_ Joseph Conrad_ arrives back in the Sol System after the long voyage from Alpha Centauri.

**Day -6  
New Olympia Spaceport, Mars  
**While being maneuvered out of its dock for a routine voyage back to Earth, the UNSV_ Nan-Shan_ collides with a smaller ship, the tramp-spacer _Starship Hooper_. Both ships suffer damage to their hull plates, leading to 8 deaths and a couple dozen injuries. New Olympia Spaceport Authorities immediately launch an investigation into the cause of the accident. Meanwhile, the _Nan-Shan_ is forced to return to drydock to undergo repairs, effectively eliminating it as UNASEC's top choice for the Epsilon Eridani Mission.

**Day -5  
En route to Epsilon Eridani  
**The UNSV begins preliminary stages of deceleration in preparation for its arrival in the system.

**Day -4****  
Holowood, Los Angeles, Earth  
**The low budget, pornographic fantasy holomovie _Barbarella 3: Hoard Of The Dragon Queen_ exceeds all expectations when it opens at Number 3 at the weekend box office, in spite of really, _really_ shitty reviews. Surprised film critics, in retrospect, attribute this to the sudden surge in popular interest in anything Medieval or fantasy-related. Major holomovie studios take note of this latest trend.

**Day -3****  
En route to Epsilon Eridani  
**The UNSV_ B. Horizonte_ crosses the lightspeed barrier during the deceleration phase.

**Day -2  
UNASEC HQ, Atlas Station  
**UNASEC announces the selection of the UNSV_ Joseph Conrad_ as the vessel for the follow-up mission to Epsilon Eridani.

**Day 0: Oct 01, 2154 C.E.  
Epsilon Eridani System  
**The UNSV_ B. Horizonte_ arrives in the Epsilon Eridani System. The crew are slowly but surely awoken from their 6-month hibernation. The news of "the Great Discovery" is broken to the crew during the post-hibernation mission briefing with UNASEC.

**Day 1: Oct 02, 2154 C.E.  
Epsilon Eridani System - orbit over EE-L4  
**Valkyrie 02 departs the UNSV _B. Horizonte_, bound for EE-L4 with 50 passengers onboard, incl. a squad of United Nations Colonial Marines, under the command of Sergeant Hawthorne. Company™ employees Mr. Frederick Kovacs and Mr. Daniel Zimmerman are the acting director and assistant director (respectively) of this expedition.

Valkyrie 02 makes landfall on EE-L4, landing in a remote and secure area of the planet's Western Continent in the early hours of the morning (local time).

Mr. Jonathan Teller convenes with First Lieutenant Archer, head of all Colonial Marine forces deployed with the_ Horizonte_, to discuss a workable security solution, now that the variables have been altered, and The Company™'s in-system colonies could be facing up to a billion potential hostiles.

**Day 2****  
Demilitarized Zone, Mars  
**An explosion is detected somewhere above the Martian Remnant of the Former DPRK aka "North Korea". Premier Kim Suk Hwang claims to the international news media that they were testing a new planetary defense weapon. However, UN intelligence analysts suspect that the DPRK was actually trying to launch their own mission to the Epsilon Eridani System, and that the ship exploded during trial runs, perhaps due to the shoddy construction techniques employed by the DPRK.


	8. Dramatis Personae: New Characters

As you read through the _Event Horizon_ series, you will be confronted with all manner of new characters, mainly from Earth. Here is a list of all named original characters so far who will have a role to play. This list will be updated frequently as new characters appear. Right now, it is divided into three categories: (I) The Company, (II) The United Nations, and (III) Other Characters. The cast lists are in (roughly) _order of appearance_ rather than _order of importance_.

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_**I. THE COMPANY**_ \- _a** 22nd century mega-corporation with numerous investments in space exploration, mining, and colonization, mainly in the Sol and Alpha Centauri Systems. The Company has also recently launched a mission to explore (and eventually colonize) the Epsilon Eridani System. If the mission is successful, the UN will grant The Company a 30-year exclusive access rights to the system. This mission, however, has been immensely complicated by the discovery that four of Epsilon Eridani's planets are already inhabited by an indigenous sapient race ... and that those natives are Humans no less! **_

1\. Jonathan P. Teller (m): American. Managing Director of the Epsilon Eridani mission and Head of the Planet EE-L5 colony.

2\. SeYoung "Angela" Cheong (f): Korean. Teller's secretary.

3\. Domenech E. Belleville (m): American. Executive Director of The Company's Space Branch and Teller's boss.

4\. James "Django" Lombardi (m): Italian-American. Head of the EE-L0 colony.

5\. Frederick "Fred" Kovacs (m): Canadian-American. Head of the EE-L4 colony.

6\. Daniel Zimmerman (m): American. Fred's assistant.

7\. Akane Saito (f): Japanese. Django's assistant.

8\. C.K. Chen (m): Chinese. Accounting Dept.

9\. Sarah Jane Carson (f): American. Legal Dept.

10\. Batoo Raj Pradhan (m): Indian. Engineering Dept.

11\. Dr. Silke Mertesacker (f): German. Genetics &amp; Biology Dept.

12\. Rafael "Rafa" Mondragón (m): Colombian. Engineering Dept.

13\. William Hicks (m): American. Geology Dept.

14\. Dr. Lana Del Rio (f): American. Linguistics Dept.

15\. Dr. Cristina DiStefano (f): Italian-Argentine. Genetics &amp; Biology Dept.

16\. 17. &amp; 18\. VENI, VIDI, &amp; VICI (f): three _Victory_-class AIs mounted in Nexus-8 Platforms.

19\. Dr. Katherine Chakwas (f): British. Head of the medical center on EE-L4.

20\. Troy (m): medical orderly

21\. Deanna (f): medical orderly

22\. Kelly Adams (f): engineer

23\. Niall Donnelly (m): Scottish. Engineer

24\. James Wong (m): Chinese-American. Welder

25\. Ray Benton (m): lab assistant

26\. Dr. Osterman (m): Climatology Dept.

27\. Dr. Richard Garrett (m): American. Advanced Physics Dept.

28\. Kamran Tahir (m): Pakistani-American. Geology Dept.

29\. Jessica Danvers (f): American. Geology Dept.

30\. Robin Van der Merwe (m): South African. Geologist.

31\. Albert Digby (m): British. Mecha-pilot.

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_**II. UNASEC - the United Nations Admin. for Space Exploration &amp; Colonization is the arm of the UN dedicated to administering space exploration, colonization, mining, and trade. UNASEC also manages the United Nations Colonial Defense Force (UNCDF), which includes the United Nations Star Fleet (UNSF) and the United Nations Colonial Marine Corps (UNCMC). UNASEC is currently co-funding a joint venture between them and The Company to explore and colonize the Epsilon Eridani System, although this mission has been complicated heavily by the discovery of three planets in the system already inhabited by Humans. **_

1\. Sec. Gen. Miguel Luiz Santos Da Silva (m): Brazilian. Secretary General of the United Nations.

2\. Capt. Hans Ulrich Müller (m): German. Captain of the starship _UNSV Belo Horizonte_.

3\. Lt. Torrin "Torry" Holmen (f): Norwegian. Pilot of the shuttle Valkyrie 02.

4\. 1st Lt. Raymond Archer (m): British. Commanding Officer of all UNCDF forces assigned to the _Belo Horizonte_.

5\. Sgt. Nathan Hawthorne (m): British. NCO of Fireteam Alpha, assigned to Planet EE-L4.

6\. Pvt. Thomas Billings (m): American. Rifleman to Fireteam Alpha.

7\. Pvt. Miroslav Blaskowitz (m): Polish-German. Rifleman to Fireteam Alpha.

8\. Pvt. Elway (m): American. Rifleman to Fireteam Alpha.

9\. Pvt. Faryd Khedira (m): Tunisian. Electronics and Communications specialist assigned to Fireteam Alpha.

10\. Pvt. Isabel Rodriguez (f): American. Heavy Weapons Specialist assigned to Fireteam Alpha.

11\. Pvt. Kasumi Hamada (f): Japanese. Medic to Fireteam Alpha

12\. Pvt. Moqi Shang (f): Chinese. Rifleman to Fireteam Alpha

13\. Pvt. Vincenzo Manfredi (m): Italian. Sniper to Fireteam Alpha

14\. Lt. Nolan McConaughey (m): American. Pilot of the shuttle Falcon 03.

15\. Lt. Francesca "Franky" Conran (f): British. Pilot of Falcon 04.

16\. Stephen Lynn (m): American. UN inspector.

17\. Sgt. Esteban Rico: NCO of Fireteam Beta, assigned to Planet EE-L5.

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_**III. OTHER CHARACTERS - new characters that are not directly affiliated with either The Company or the UN.**_

1\. Schaeffer Schmidt (m): German. Host of the FNHN Holovision Channel.

2\. Gretchen Von Limburg (f): German. Co-host of the FNHN Holovision Channel.

3\. Jorge R.R. de Martín (m): Mexican. The acclaimed author of the popular _Throne Of Blood_ series of novels.


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